Ched Evans: 10 men cautioned for revealing identity of accuser

Ten men have been cautioned by police after revealing the identity of the woman who accused footballer Ched Evans of rape.

The Chesterfield striker, who will rejoin Sheffield United, was acquitted of raping a 19-year-old in a hotel room in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, in 2011, during a retrial last year.

His accuser is entitled to lifelong anonymity under the the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 and North Wales police’s temporary Supt Jason Devonport described publishing her name as a “serious offence”.

After an investigation into the woman’s name being published on social media, police cautioned a group of men, aged between 16 and 23, from Sheffield, Derbyshire and Birmingham.

Devonport said: “This type of offence is fortunately rare, however, I’d like to emphasise all police forces take offences of this nature very seriously. We will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who don’t respect victims’ anonymity.”

Evans, 28, spent two and a half years in jail after being found guilty of rape in 2012. The conviction was quashed by the court of appeal in London in April 2016. A retrial jury at Cardiff crown court took two hours to find him not guilty of the offence six months later.

By the time Evans was jailed in April 2012, his alleged victim had been named thousands of times. The woman was forced to relocate from her hometown of Rhyl and change her identity.

In November 2012, nine people pleaded guilty at Prestatyn magistrates court in north Wales to publishing material likely to lead members of the public to identify the complainant in a rape case. Six were from north Wales, including Ched Evans’ cousin, Gemma Thomas, and three from Sheffield. One had tweeted: “She is to blame for her own downfall. Lets find her address.”

The nine claimed they were not aware naming the woman was a criminal offence and were each ordered to pay £624 compensation.

Evans signed for Chesterfield last June, two months after his conviction was quashed but before his retrial. This week it was reported that Sheffield United were set to re-sign the player, who played for the club from 2009-12.